“We were just three people who wanted to get to know one another and fell in love during the process.”
‘I hadn’t been with a woman. He was monogamous. She’s bisexual. Now, all 3 of us live together.’: Polyamorous throuple says ‘it’s been a beautifully complex experience’
‘Driving today, I saw waves of middle and high school athletes running in very close clusters. No masks. Lots of panting, big inhales and exhales.’: Teacher pens open letter amid school reopenings, ‘I’m risking everything I’ve worked my entire life for’
“Make no mistake. My wonderful students have not been social distancing. They haven’t been wearing masks. I’ve seen their social media posts all summer, living life as though we aren’t in the heat of a global pandemic. I’ve worked hard to protect myself and others for 6 months. Soon, I’ll be in a classroom with no windows and more teenagers than is safe.”
‘I was sitting on the couch watching cartoons. I felt two POPS inside my stomach. I was completely freaking out.’: Bereaved mom says ‘grieving mommas are the strongest women I’ve ever met’
“Just like that, everything changed. I knew I didn’t want to terminate my pregnancy. My only choice was to pray I stayed pregnant. I looked at the clock at midnight. It was officially July 3rd, my birthday. She was so small. Less than a pound. I held Rose in my arms. Tears ran down my face. I knew at any moment God was going to take her heaven.”
‘I split from my partner of 7 years. My life completely turned on its head. How would this impact my future child?’: After unsuccessful relationships, solo mom follows ‘perfect path’ to daughter
“I went on a crazy number of first dates. Internet dating, speed dating, blind dates, an array of apps. I knew what I wanted. I was ready to be a mom. After years of unsuccessful dating, I started to worry I was going to miss out on motherhood altogether. I needed to take matters into my own hands.”
‘Welcome to Kindergarten! Look at my cool face shield!!! Maybe you’ll get an astronaut helmet too! Let’s learn a hand-washing song! Are you ready?’: Teacher urges ‘put trust in the gap’
“I wish we could take you through every single way we are preparing to protect your child, but we simply don’t have enough time. Put trust in the gap and give your child’s teacher some grace.”
‘I’m actually not due for another 4 weeks.’ I threw my phone across the bed. The desire to add to our family didn’t just go away.’: After infertility battle, mom births 2 miracle babies
“’When do you think you’ll have more kids?’ I spent every day thinking about it, worrying about it. It was exhausting. All our eggs were literally in 1 basket, and it failed, again. I shredded anything that said the birth mother’s name. ‘I WILL have a baby this year.’”
‘I was giving my son a bath when I noticed 3 little pubic hairs. I got an ominous call from our pediatrician at 6:30 in the evening.’: Mom works to cure son’s Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, ‘Where there is life, there is hope’
“The doctor abruptly gave Max a quick examination. WHAT?? Our world flipped off its axle. I cried incessantly. The overwhelming feeling of grief felt too much to handle. I said to my husband, ‘If anyone can cure this kid, it’s us! We were chosen to be his parents for a reason.'”
‘We buy supplies. We prepare for gunmen. We spend nights and weekends away from family to make your children feel supported.’: Teacher urges ‘give us a minute’ among school reopening crisis
“I spent today removing my personal belongings from my classroom. Nothing but empty desks remained. I cried all the way home. Right now, we’re scared to death.”
‘Why isn’t he growing right? I’d never seen a baby so small. They painted a bleak and miserable life for my son.’: Woman births baby with Prader Willi Syndrome, ‘I refuse to let it define him’
“He had tubes all over his body and when they put him on my chest, I barely felt the weight of him. I was faced with a baby labeled ‘Failure to Thrive.’ He looked strange to me. He was unlike any other baby I had ever seen.”
‘When my mother passed away, someone started drama. We were gossiped about and given a cold shoulder when all we needed was a hug.’: Woman urges ‘unsubscribe from their mess’
“There will ALWAYS be people in your life who will make your pain about them. Their hearts are so backward, they will not only be mad when you’re on the mountaintop, but they’ll be jealous of the attention you’re getting in the valley.”
‘Who were you back then? Before the lines, before the aches, before time took your strength away?’: Woman urges ‘every day is a blessing’ after encounter with stranger
“Your walk was tired, sore. Your spirit wasn’t. I saw you catch me looking. I saw you wink. It got me thinking.”
‘I thought I could sneak into the living room. She felt my absence. I heard her scared voice call out for me and begin to cry.’: Mom shares touching reminder, ‘He’s still here, He always will be’
“In the times we think He’s left us and we’re all alone because we can’t feel His presence, He’s still right there. He hears our cries, and He’s saying, ‘Sweet child, I’m right here. I haven’t left you.’ She didn’t know I was only feet away.”
‘My boyfriend sprayed cologne in the air. I froze and stopped in my tracks. I went into an immediate panic attack and cried uncontrollably.’: Young woman shares tribute to late father, ‘Grief comes in waves’
“My day was too perfect, too good. I remember turning to my boyfriend and literally saying, ‘This day feels too good to be true, nothing has gone wrong.’ Boy, was I in for a wild ride. Overnight, I became a second mother to my siblings.”
‘You need to decide if you want to go through with it.’ To her, I was carrying a diagnosis, not a baby.’: Mom to son with Spina Bifida says ‘a life with a disability doesn’t mean a lifetime of sadness’
“I stared at the doctor with tears rolling down my face. ‘Go through with what? My child I have dreamed about since I was a little girl?’ She was asking me if I wanted to end my pregnancy because my son had a birth defect that was not life-threatening.”
‘I received a DM from a mom. ‘Should I stay or should I go?’ She wanted to leave her husband. She was breaking.’: Divorcee says ‘you’re worth dragging yourself over the hill and starting over’
“The children are the reason she stays, but the children are the reason she wants to go. Her message was not asking me for help or what I thought she should do, but you how I found the strength to do it all. I was that woman 12 months ago.”
‘My husband took the diagnosis as an insult. ’What is your problem?’ He began to cry, ‘I just don’t want anyone to hurt him.’: Parents to son with autism say ‘he is meant to be exactly who he is’
“I didn’t want to face it. It was scary and unknown. My husband had an even more difficult time. He stood fast, insisting Beckham just needed time. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore.”
‘I was pregnant with my first child when the doorbell rang. ‘Either you buy this house or you have to move.’ There was no way in hell we could afford it.’: Mom ‘in tears’ after miracle turns her into homeowner
“I knew my credit. I knew our bank account. What happened next still gives me chills to this day. She turned from her computer, looked at us, and said, ‘OK, just give me a second to print out your approval letter.’ WHAT?!?!? Did she just say ‘approved?’ We walked out of there in tears.”
‘My job has been turned upside down, inside out, shredded, and handed back with the instruction ‘make it work.’: Teacher urges for ‘compassion’ amid reopenings, ‘Work with us, not against us’
“We are existing in a completely foreign environment, trying to keep ourselves from drowning, all while trying to do the best by kids. Parents, we need to be a team. We need you to stand in the gaps. We are doing absolutely everything we can.”
‘You can choose comfort care or surgery.’ I wanted to scream. I didn’t know what quality of life he’d have.’: Mom loses baby with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, ‘He only knew love’
“’This defect is so rare, you’ll probably never see it in your lifetime.’ I felt like I was in a dream. I pinched myself a few times. What snapped me back to reality was the doctor saying, ‘I can do these surgeries, but his chance of survival is slim.’ I wanted the nightmare to end.”
‘Why mommy, why my daddy?’ He had an accident. ‘I’m going to do one thing for us. Get married.’: After ‘catastrophic brain injury,’ woman marries fiancé in ICU before his passing
“At 5.30 a.m., a friend was in our bedroom. ‘Wake up, he’s hurt his head!’ His skull was shattered. I collapsed on him and cried like I never cried in my life. How was I going to tell the boys what happened to their daddy? I rang the ICU to tell them of my wishes.”
‘I kissed him with a face full of blood. I hid his gun every time an argument was coming. I built up every part of him, while he destroyed each part of me.’: Woman’s harrowing story shows ‘how easily domestic violence can go unnoticed’
“This was a man I️ would’ve given my last breath for, but chances are, he’d be the one taking it from me. I painted the most beautiful picture of our family while living in horror. Five and a half years ago, I would’ve said it could never be me.”
‘Your chances of conceiving are zero.’ I could also lose my husband. We couldn’t catch a break.’: Couple births baby with Down syndrome while husband battles cancer, ‘She was the missing piece of our puzzle’
“I got a call I could have never expected. ‘The doctor thinks I may have cancer.’ Our dreams and future slipped out of our grasp. I looked at that little stick and thought, ‘Maybe things are looking up after all.’ But I just had this feeling deep down in my gut something wasn’t right.’”
‘THEY CALLED A CODE BLUE!’ He started screaming and grabbing the sides of his head. ‘It hurts!’: 8-year-old survives AVM brain rupture, ‘He’s still a fighter’
“A text came through that said, ‘Get to the hospital now.’ I thought it was a typo. His dad carried his limp and lifeless body into the hospital. I was shaking and screaming. ‘No! Not my baby, not my Ricky.”
‘She may not survive surgery.’ For 9 days, her chest remained open. She wasn’t the baby I expected.’: Mom has photo shoot in ICU before preemie passes to ‘make each day beautiful’
“Her body was too small to close over her swollen heart. Piles of machinery overwhelmed her metal crib. I hesitantly brought a small box into the ICU. Inside was a blanket and matching hair bow. I was shocked by how stunning she looked.”
‘That’s crazy!’ I filed it away under the ‘that would never happen’ section of my brain. Then came ‘the call.’ I broke down in fear.’: Baby diagnosed with Biliary Atresia, undergoes liver transplant, ‘She’s full of life’
“I was sleeping in hospital chairs at 20-something-weeks pregnant, walking a bridge back and forth between the children’s hospital and the cancer center, visiting my mom who was undergoing treatment for her second round of cancer. All while my husband was laid-off for needing time to help watch our other children.”